Chapter 30, Programming

Meanwhile (there's that word again) the supers were trying to figure out what had happened to Violet. Had she fallen into the sea?

"I can't understand it," said Quigley in a rage. "How could you let Violet go out on the dirigible walkway and not keep watch on her?" He pointed at KitFox and Duncan.

"I was watching," said KitFox. "One moment the Man with a Beard and No Hair was inside with us, and the next moment he was out pushing Violet over the railing."

"You're lying," growled Dash. "You must have gone over to their side."

"She's not lying," said Duncan. "I saw the same thing. I can show you my memories; they never lie."

Duncan passed his photographic memories to all the supers; they pondered over them looking for clues.

"Did you notice?" said KitFox. "Duncan saw the accomplice of the Man with a Beard and No Hair reach for his pocket right before there was a skip in the memory."

Mr. Incredible stomped over to where the captured villains (Bruce, Fernald, Kari Melita, and Sir) had been tied up. He grabbed his former boss and lifted him up with one hand.

"Spill it!" he demanded. "What did you do to put Violet in danger? Answer me!"

Mr. Incredible pulled a miniature tape recorder out of the man's pocket. "Maybe this will answer my questions," he said, pushing the play button.

As far as the supers were concerned, it was as if Sir vanished in an instant. The ropes were on the floor, snapped into pieces.

"That was dumb," said Kari Melita.

"What did you see?" said Mr. Incredible.

"The tape started playing. It sounded like Vice Principal Nero's violin at school. You all just froze. Then he whispered something to you, Mr. Incredible. You tore off his ropes. He got Elastigirl to slow down the plane, then he got a parachute and jumped out. You can't remember any of it, can you?" she taunted.

"No, I can't," said Mr. Incredible, hanging his head.

"What a bunch of cakesniffers!" said Kari.

Helen Parr called from the cockpit, "We did lose airspeed, but now I've picked up a vapor trail leading from where we were, to the city. It may be from whoever took Violet. I'm following it."

Helen landed on the beach beside the lifeless body of Rick Poe. Violet's diving suit was on the sand beside him. They called for Violet, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile (again!) Violet had taken Poe's advice. She had stripped off her diving suit and gone invisible. She found a bus stop and managed to sneak aboard a bus headed for the suburbs near Prudence Preparatory School. It wasn't easy dodging passengers as the bus filled up, but she managed by climbing into an unused luggage rack.

It was nearly time for Nero's evening violin concert when Violet got to Prudence Prep. She sneaked in just as Nero was leaving his office, violin in hand. She knew he would be occupied for several hours -- giving her time to find the advanced computer and learn what was in the sugar bowl.

She found the computer in the corner behind Nero's desk. It appeared to be on but the screen wasn't glowing. She grabbed the mouse and wiggled it to see if the computer would respond.

"Please don't do that," said a soft voice. "If you want to communicate with me, pick up what you thought was a mouse and speak into it."

Violet jumped. She took a deep breath, picked up the input microphone, and asked, "A-are you the advanced computer?"

"Highly advanced," the computer responded. "Call me Hal."

Violet was about to ask Hal if it could read the sugar bowl when the office door suddenly opened. Bernie Nero rushed back in.

"Now, where did I put my violin bow?" he muttered to himself. "Oh, there it is on the desk."

Violet, still invisible, had dropped the input microphone and pulled back as far as she could.

"Mr. Nero?" said Hal in its gentle voice. "You asked me to tell you about unusual events that happen in your office while you are away."

"Yes, what happened?" said Nero gruffly. He seemed to be in a hurry to get to his concert.

"An invisible person was just speaking with me," said Hal. "Sorry, invisible person."

Bernie Nero gave Hal a pleased but evil grin. "Thanks, Hal." He played a peculiar set of notes on his violin.

Violet froze.